Best of
Modern-Classics
2021
Dear Hugo
Molly Clavering - 2021
Bury yourself in London or any really large city, and you can live like a hermit, but avoid the outskirts of a village. I am dazed by the ceaseless whirl of activities in which almost everyone in and round Ravenskirk is involved.Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lovely Border village of Ravenskirk don't know that Sara has moved here because it's where Ivo and Hugo grew up, but they welcome her warmly. Soon, she's drawn into the active village social scene of tea parties, gardening, carol-singing, and Coronation festivities, dodging the judgments of stern Miss Bonaly, defending her helper Madge Marchbanks, an unwed mother, befriending kind, practical Elizabeth Drysdale and charming Mrs. Currie and her daughter Sylvia (the latter first met halfway through Sara's drawing room window), and having an embarrassing first encounter with rugged Major Whitburn. Add in her nephew Arthur, neglected by an indifferent father, Arthur's dog Pam, and even Hugo himself returning unexpectedly from overseas, and Sara's life is a 'ceaseless whirl' indeed!Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson (in just such a village as Ravenskirk), and they may well have influenced one another's writing. First published in 1955, Dear Hugo is one of the funniest of her spirited, joyful comedies of Scottish village life. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.
Because of Sam
Molly Clavering - 2021
Maitland looked back across the thirty years of her short married life and long widowhood, the nineteen-year-old girl on the other side of that gap seemed a total stranger, incredibly young and untried, incredibly ignorant.Millie Maitland has settled happily into her busy if slightly impoverished existence in the Scottish village of Mennan, watched over now and then by her solicitor, who once proposed marriage, and her daughter Amabel, grown but still a handful. Millie is much loved by her friends and neighbours, including the gossipy Mrs. Gray, the kind Mrs. Denholm, a shepherd's wife isolated in the hills, and the appalling Mrs. Noble, a flirt whose husband is overseas. But into this contented, quiet life comes a bit of drama. It all starts innocently enough when Martin Heriot, a bachelor farmer, asks Millie to board a black labrador puppy named Sam . . .Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson (in just such a village as Mennan), and they may well have influenced one another's writing. First published in 1954, Because of Sam is a charming and compulsively readable comedy of errors. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.
Touch Not the Nettle
Molly Clavering - 2021
A call from Jed's irritating cousin results in a visit from young Amanda, whose ace pilot husband is missing (and none too sorely missed). There are complications with their neighbours, the embittered Larry Heriot and his spiteful sister Ruth, and with the formidable trio of Misses Pringle, the gossipy Furies of the village. Susan's brother Oliver and cheerful wife Peggy come in for difficulties as well. Of course, it all works out in the end, but not before some distressing confusion, grave misunderstandings, and rollicking adventures, permeated with eccentric and lovable characters and vivid Scottish landscapes.Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another's writing. First published in 1939 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Touch Not the Nettle reunites us with characters from the earlier Susan Settles Down (though they may be read in any order). This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.
Steelstorm
Thomas777 - 2021
In the end, there was ZARTAX-cyborg, living weapon, ultimate Executioner. After Warday, when millions of human lives ceased at once in a flash of nuclear hellfire, the lives of sadistic junkie Billy Wong, Surgeon-Minister Woldemar Mohamet al-Husseini, and Leers would be bound together by some unseen hand moving them toward God's ultimate purpose.The debut novella of one of our foremost dissident thinkers, Steelstorm opens up terrifying vistas of Homeric violence and Venusian sky-city arcologies.With an essay outlining the philosophical implications of fiction as well as his own reasons for writing the book, Thomas777 has given us a major creative statement and a new mythos.
Yoked with a Lamb
Molly Clavering - 2021
Most residents are firmly in Lucy's corner, but as Lucy's plans to host a family gathering in celebration of their return exacerbates existing tensions, Andrew's cousin Kate Heron-drafted to help smooth the way-begins to wonder . . . The resulting difficulties draw in Kate's brother Greystiel, elderly Jean Anstruther, who keeps the town under careful surveillance, Jean's nephew Robin, the Lockharts' formidable Aunt Charlotte, and an unforgettable array of supporting characters as the tale reaches its satisfying climax.Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another's writing. First published in 1938 (under the pseudonym B. Mollett) and out of print for more than 80 years, Yoked with a Lamb is a witty and entertaining account of family conflict and reconciliation in a charming Scottish setting. This new edition features an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.